


Zane & Mara

by larchwood



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Gen, Mara takes care of her boys, Mara's entry for PFLAG membership, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Zane & Mara are my JAM, author is a pissy bitch about Tumblr's censorship, moving my content here, that'll show them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 14:57:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17045822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larchwood/pseuds/larchwood
Summary: Zane spends the weekend in Bluefield to help out Mara.





	Zane & Mara

Zane groaned as he set his fork down. “Mara, that was wonderful, as always. I’m going to be 10 pounds heavier by the end of the weekend at this rate.”

Mara smiled affectionately at him as Earl chuckled around his own mouthful of pie. “Well, I can’t really take credit for it Zane, but you could use a little more meat on your bones. You’ve gotten skinnier while Ty’s been gone. You’re going to melt away to nothing by the time he gets back.”

Earl winked at Zane as he moved to take his dishes to the sink. “Good thing he’s here for the weekend so you can fatten him up again. Although, with that bum arm of yours, he might have to make due with me fixing sandwiches morning, noon and night.”

Zane glanced down at Mara’s arm, encased in a soft cast and a sling, concern on his face. Mara humpted in displeasure. “I can’t believe I was careless enough to fall down outside. I’m sorry that you’ve had to come up for such a silly reason.” An unseasonably early cold snap had hit the mountains, leaving a surprise patch of black ice on the porch. It turned out just to be a mild sprain, but the doctor made a point of insisting on the sling, not so tactfully doubting her ability to take it easy otherwise.

Zane smiled at her. “I’m happy to be here for anything you need, Mara. You know that. It’s kind of nice getting out of town for a few days and doing nothing more stressful than being your go-fer.” As much as he adored Mara, what went unsaid was Zane’s desire to do this for Ty. He knew that if Ty could be there himself, he would have been there in a heartbeat to wait on his momma. Since he couldn’t do anything to protect Ty or make the deployment easier on him, it felt in his heart that he was helping him by looking out for his family.

Earl clapped him on the shoulder before bending over to kiss Mara on the cheek. “I believe she’s wanting to do some shopping this afternoon, Zane. We’ll see how non-stressed you are after following her around the store.” Mara swatted at him as Chester cackled. “You two, get!” Chester shuffled off to his room for a bit of a nap. Earl filled up his thermos with coffee and saluted her before heading back off to mines. 

Zane sipped his own coffee for another minute before rising to clear the rest of the dishes and start cleaning the kitchen. “Thank you, Zane dear,” Mara sighed. “It goes against my druthers to have a guest in this house doing the dishes,” she fretted. Zane swooped down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek himself. “It’s no trouble. Besides,” he said almost shyly, “I thought we were past the ‘guest’ stage.”

Mara’s face lit with warmth. “Of course we are, dear. It means so much to me to have you here. You’re part of the family. And even if that weren’t the case, I’d still be happy to have you here. I just like to do for myself, I guess.” Zane laughed. “That seems to be a Grady trait.” He turned back to finish filling up the dishwasher. “So,” he said. “Shopping?”

Mara sighed. “Yes. We were blessed to have the potluck brigade from church load us up with casseroles and things right after I fell. And don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for everyone’s caring. But we’ve gone through the majority of them now, and I really have a hankering to make some of my own dishes. Besides,” she wrinkled her nose. “All that’s left is the ground beef and tater tot casserole. I’m thinking between you and me, we can rustle up something better. So a trip to the market is definitely in order. We’ll just wait and see how it goes afterwards. One stop may be all we need.”

He warmed at her suggestion that they’d work together to fix dinner. Mara’s easy acceptance of Zane and his relationship with Ty had filled a space in his heart. He knew rationally that it was fruitless to compare Beverly and Mara - they were too much like night and day. He hadn’t gotten bold enough to call her Ma like Ty did, but the thought did cross his mind often.

After finishing the clean up and discussing menus and shopping lists, they made their way down the mountain in Zane’s truck. Mara kept up a steady stream of chatter during the drive, mostly including details of Ty’s childhood in Bluefield. “There’s where he broke his arm falling off his skateboard when he was 8. And he used to mow the lawn for old Mrs. Forrester over there.”

She directed him to a local, family owned market. “I don’t go to superstores if I can help it, Zane. Too impersonal.” Zane dutifully took cart duty while Mara led the way and consulted her shopping list. Tonight’s menu included chicken and dumplings. They had decided that Zane would do his turn tomorrow by fixing steaks out on the grill. 

They were almost done when they heard, “Mara!! How on earth are you?” They turned to see a woman at the other end of the aisle, rushing toward Mara with a look of concern on her face. Zane tensed a little. He figured the middle aged woman wasn’t much a threat, but he couldn’t help the protective instinct. Mara gave Zane a subtle eyeroll before turning to the other woman. “Mary Alice! I’m fine, really. It just looks worse than it is.” 

The two women chatted for a few minutes. Or more accurately, Mary Alice chatted while Mara managed to get a word in only when the other woman paused for breath. She finally seemed to notice Zane standing there and asked in a chirpy voice, “And who might this young man be?”

Mara answered, “Mary Alice, this is Zane Garrett, Tyler’s boyfriend. He’s visiting for a few days to help me out. Zane, Mary Alice Simpson. Her daughter grew up with Deuce.” Zane nodded his head at the woman during the introduction. But as soon as Mara said “boyfriend” a decidedly pinched look came over Mary Alice’s. “Boyfriend?” she said faintly. She looked flustered and very uncomfortable, eyes darting everywhere but directly at Zane.

Zane felt his mask of indifference slide into place. He was a little surprised at the hurt he felt that the freedom to be himself now was being attacked. Enough time had passed after Ty’s stunt that the whispers and comments at work had finally died down. And one of things he enjoyed about visiting Ty’s family was the sense of total acceptance they gave him. He hadn’t been prepared to face homophobic comments at the grocery store of all places. Now he really just wanted to get them out of the store before the woman could make a scene.

Mara on the other hand wasn’t going to let this go. “Is that a problem, Mary Alice?” she asked icily. “Do you have something to say?” Mary Alice looked like she wanted to hide behind her own cart, but she still managed to squeak out, “But that’s just morally wrong, Mara! How can you be encouraging this? What would Pastor Martin say?”

Mara snapped, “If he’s the friend and man of God that I’ve known him to be for the past 20 years, he’d tell you to mind your own damn business!” Mary Alice stood there with her mouth hanging open, dumbstruck and with her face beet-red. But Mara was just warming up. “He’d remind you that God is love, and we’re told to love other people. Tyler has chosen to love Zane, and for that reason alone he is welcome in my house at any time. But even if that weren’t the case, Zane is a honorable, upstanding man who has been a good friend and has actually saved Ty’s life several times. So maybe instead of spending your time condemning people for who they love, you should be spending more time in prayer asking God how to help you love people more!”

Zane figured his eyes were probably as wide as Mary Alice’s. Mara took his arm with her good hand and started propelling him towards the check out. “C’mon, Zane. I think we have everything we need.” Zane managed to at least nod at Mary Alice and murmur “M’am” as they sailed past her. The warmth that he felt at Mara’s spirited defense had him flushing, even as he side-eyed Mara who was muttering under her breath about busybody gossips.

After paying for the groceries and heading back to the truck, Zane cleared his throat while he loaded up the car and said quietly, “Thank you.” Mara looked up at him in surprise. “Whatever for, dear?” “For standing up for me back there. She’s obviously someone you’ve known for a long time.” She huffed. “So? What of it? She was out of line and I won’t put up with someone maligning one of my boys.” 

Zane smiled crookedly. “I’m sure Ty would be tickled to see you defend him like a momma bear.” Mara raised her good hand and cupped Zane’s cheek. “Zane, you’re one of my boys now.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And don’t you forget it!” Zane gingerly hugged her and whispered, “Yes, m’am.” Mara patted him on the back and said, “Alright now. Let’s get these groceries home. I’m in the mood to bake. What kind of pie do you want tonight - apple? Cherry?” Zane just smiled down at her as he helped her into the passenger seat. “How about apple today and cherry tomorrow?” Mara chuckled. “I think that can be arranged. Let’s go home.”


End file.
